The Amulet
by mskennedy04
Summary: A little mediator adventure. Takes places just alittle bit after "Haunted". What will Suze do when she is threatened with the possibility of having her gift taken away?
1. Chapter 1

NOTE: I just made up this story I don't own these characters, Meg Cabot does

NOTE: I just made up this story I don't own these characters, Meg Cabot does!

Also the plot is gonna develop as I update the chapters so keep on reading!! And keep in mind that I am a big fan of the Suze/Paul fling, I don't know why. Well this is my first fan fic and I hope you like it! Let me know if I should keep continuing!!

1

**A hand slowly crept towards her in the darkness. Suze turned over in her bed unaware of the lurking form beside her in the room. The hand slowly moved towards her getting closer and closer…**

**Suze suddenly screamed as she felt something touch her arm. She whirled out of bed and put her hand into fists defensively. Her eyes slowly got used to the dark and she sighed as she recognized the figure standing in front of her.**

"**Jesse! What's your deal? I don't know what you've been taught as a ghost but you don't just sneak up on people when they're sleeping! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Suze rambled. As much as she hated it when he did this she found it hard to stay mad at him. She took in how the dim light outlined Jesse's broad and perfectly muscular physique. **_**He really is the most gorgeous ghost I've ever seen **_**Suze thought. **_**But that's besides the point **_**she countered, collecting herself.**

"**What do you want?" Suze asked.**

"**I'm sorry to wake you," Jesse said sheepishly, "but I had to. I heard something. Something bad"**

**Suze's face suddenly grew serious. "What happened?"**

"**Well, you know the house on Crescent Road, a few miles away? The one that's apparently-"**

**Suze cut him off. "Haunted?"**

"**Yeah, you've heard the stories? I mean you've only been living in Carmel for a couple of months" Jesse asked curiously, moving toward her slightly and folding his hands over his chest.**

"**Yeah, well you know Father Dominic. He insisted on telling me everything going on around here in order to get prepared," Suze lifted her hand to use sarcastic air quotations as she said this, "but honestly I've been doing this for years, you know and you'd think that-"**

"**Umm…Suze?" Jesse raised an eyebrow.**

"**Oh, sorry, I'm babbling. You were saying about the house?" Suze said, getting back on topic.**

"**Yes. A couple of kids disappeared there the other day. I'm surprised you didn't know" Jesse said.**

"**Yeah well I don't really watch the news and stuff like that, Jesse. I figure my life is scary enough as it is you know?" Suze retorted.**

**Jesse smiled, lighting up his tall, dark and handsome features. He ran his hand through his smooth, brown hair. **

"**Well, I think you may need to check this one out Susannah. I mean we both know that ghosts exist. So the stories must be true. Something supernatural could have happened to these kids"**

"**Maybe," Suze said, "but I doubt it. Ghosts don't usually abduct or kill people. Actually most are not even evil at all. They just need help in getting to their next life. I think this is a job for the police. They are looking right?"**

"**Yes they are," Jesse nodded, "but still I think you should-"**

"**Look, Jesse," Suze interrupted, "I already have Father Dominic busting my back you know? I'll keep an ear open but right now I am very tired. So I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" **

**Jesse sighed. "Fine. Goodnight Susannah" and with that he shimmered out of the room.**

**The next morning Suze didn't see Jesse at all. **_**That's weird**_** she thought putting on her new couture top. **_**Well, just because I'm fighting ghosts doesn't mean I can't have style right? **_**She grabbed her school bag and hopped down the stairs. She saw her mom and her husband Andy, as well as her step-brothers sitting at the table, watching the T.V. **

"**Hey," Suze said brightly, taking a seat and plopping her school bag down at the table, "what are you guys watching?"**

"**Some bizarre story about the house on Crescent" Andy answered. Suze rolled her eyes. **_**I'm really not going to get out of this **_**she thought, **_**well the least I could do is find out some information.**_

"**Yeah, I heard about that. What are they saying? Did they find the kids yet?" Suze asked.**

"**That's what's bizarre. They said they heard noises that sounded like kids. And some strange laughing but they couldn't find anything" her mom said noticeably freaked out. **

"**Strange laughing? Yeah right," her step-brother Doc snorted, getting up and walking to the kitchen to put his breakfast plate in the sink, "if you ask me some people are just crazy. I mean who'd believe that?"**

**Suze managed to choke out a faint laugh. But she already knew that she did. This was her job. And with this new evidence she realized she couldn't just ignore it.**

"**Well, I'm gonna go to school a little early….umm…I have this paper that I haven't even started yet so…I'll see you guys later" Suze said grabbing her school bag from the table and hurrying for the door. **_**This calls for a little chat with Father Dominic **_**she thought.**


	2. Chapter 2

2

2

**Suze marched into school and headed directly for Father Dominic's office. Suze walked down the long hall hardly noticing the massive amount of kids that swarmed around her and turned to the office. She knocked on his door impatiently. Finally the door opened to reveal a very tired looking Priest.**

"**Oh, hi Susannah. I thought I might be expecting you" Father Dom said, stepping to the side and gesturing for her to come in. **

"**Ummm…yeah" Suze said slightly confused, "I'm here to talk about the-" Suze broke off when she saw someone else standing by the Priest's desk.**

"**Hi" Jesse said awkwardly. Suze's mouth dropped.**

"**What are you doing here? Oh, no wait I get it, you came here to tell Father Dom about out little conversation last night"**

**Jesse nodded. **

"**Well, I think it's a very good idea that he did," Father Dom said, walking up to Jesse and placing a hand on his shoulder, "we have been up all night looking up the history of that house and what kind of ghost could possibly have taken those kids"**

"**And why" Jesse added.**

**Suze rubbed her head and started to pace back and forth. "Okay, here is what I do know. The police heard cries, kid cries and I believe them. So that means they are still there in that house and still alive. I'm gonna go there after school and take a look around"**

"**Alone?" Jesse asked looking at Suze worriedly than suddenly his glance focused past Suze and to the doorway of the office.**

"**Yeah alone Suze?" a voice said. Suze turned around and saw Paul Slater leaning against the doorframe with his arms across his chest.**

"**How long have you been standing there Paul?" Suze asked, painfully aware that his presence still made her slightly uncomfortable. In a good or bad way, she wasn't sure.**

"**Long enough to know that there's ghost trouble," Paul replied in his usual cool demeanour "and I agree with your boy Jesse over there. You shouldn't go alone" he added stepping in to the room.**

"**And why do you care Paul?" Suze asked, glaring at him.**

**Paul chuckled. "Well I know you think I am a heartless jerk who doesn't care about anyone besides myself. But you know if you give me a chance Suze I think you might actually be surprised, which is why I'm going with you after school"**

"**You wish" Jesse said, stepping forward, challenging him **

"**Okay, everyone just calm down," Father Dominic said in his fatherly and authorative tone, "if Paul wants to help I say we let him. Just be careful you two"**

"**We will," Suze said and looking at Jesse she added, "and I'll check in after we're done" With that Suze walked past Paul and out of the office. Paul, before leaving looked at Jesse and gave him a small smirk.**

**After school Suze ran to her locker to dump all of her books. She left her school bag because it was a far walk and she wanted as little to carry as possible. She slammed her locker shut and jumped when she saw someone standing beside her.**

"**You scared me Paul!" Suze said exasperated.**

"**Sorry," Paul said non-chalately, putting his hands in his jean pockets looking at her with his piercing gaze, "ready to go?"**

**Suze looked at him. **_**Why is he doing this? Is it possible he's changed? Wait no, of course not this is Paul Slater **_**Suze thought. But as Suze looked at his surprisingly warm smile that he was wearing on his face and his blue eyes looking down on her she sensed something. Something different.**

"**Yup let's go. But I'm warming you Paul one wrong move and I'll cause you severe pain got that?" Suze said icily.**

**Paul just laughed and they both started to walk to the school entrance.**

**After a 20 minute walk they arrived at the house. Suze and Paul both stood in front of it just staring. It looked as if it hadn't been up kept for awhile. It had broken shutters that cricketed in the wind. The paint looked like it was chipping off from age. It was also the biggest house she had ever seen, standing at 5 stories high. **

"**Jeez," Paul finally said, "no wonder they say this house is haunted. This is like the typical horror-movie house"**

_**Yeah, how cliché **_**Suze laughed to herself ashamed for feeling even a little bit scared at the first sight of it. **

"**Come on" Suze said and they carefully walked up the creaking stairs. They got to the door and Suze took hold of the rusty handle and turned it open. It was unlocked. As they walked in Suze found her heart start to speed up. **_**This is ridiculous **_**she thought **_**I've been in scarier places than this before.**_

**Paul having observed this momentary lapse of composure looked amused.**

"**Scared, Simon? He asked.**

**Suze snorted. "No, not at all"**

**They entered what appeared to be the living room. It had cobwebs and dust all over the place and the furniture looked like it was falling apart. A wave of nervousness took over Suze again and she gulped noticeably. Usually she had her wits about her when it came to ghosts seeing as she'd been seeing them since she was a kid and they never particularly wanted to hurt her. Much. But something about this house turned her blood like ice.**

"**Okay so remember," Suze turned to Paul, "we're looking for the kids than we're out of here"**

**Paul nodded following Suze through the living room and into the kitchen. They noticed a flight of stairs leading into the basement. Suze looked at Paul and motioned for him to follow her. They made their way down the stairs and found themselves in a little hall with a couple of rooms to each side.**

"**Kids? Are you down here?" Suze called. There was no answer. They walked into the first room to their right but no one was there. **

"**They're not in here" Paul said and they went to turn towards the door when they both let out a huge scream. Two ghostly figures stood in front of them, sneering.**

"**Told you she'd come" the woman ghost said evilly, pointing to Suze.**

"**And look my dear," the man said, "We caught what appears to be 2 mediators. Did you notice? He can see us too"**

**Paul and Suze looked at each other in confusion. **

"**What do you mean you knew I'd come? And what did you do with those kids? You took them didn't you!" Suze snapped.**

"**Yes we did," the woman cackled, "but we won't harm them. We just wanted you. And since we've got you too handsome it's just a bonus" She said to Paul.**

"**What do you want with us? What did we ever do to you? Paul demanded getting irritated. Suze meanwhile was getting more and more scared as the ghosts were inching more and more towards them.**

"**Leave it to mediators to not know anything! Did you know that we were once a family here," the man said, his face growing red with fury, "yes and even when we died in the fire we were still happy here. Yes there was a fire here, not that anyone remembers. It was re-built. And hey we got along here just fine with our son. Yes we had a son. Until one of you mediators exorcised him! banished him! that day…oh god…we looked around frantically for him but he was gone and we knew immediately what had happened"**

**Suze and Paul looked taken aback.**

"**Look I'm so sorry," Suze said trying to sound sympathetic when really her mind was screaming in fear, "that is terrible. But you know are you sure he didn't want to go? You know sometimes it's healthy to move on to the next life you know"**

**The ghosts looked like they were on the verge of rage.**

"**Simon" Paul said warningly.**

"**Because that's what we mediators do. We help ghosts with whatever issues keep them here. And we help them move on" Suze continued but slowly realized that reasoning wasn't going to work.**

**The woman ghost suddenly pointed and gasped. "The amulet! You left it out?" she screeched at her husband. Paul and Suze both looked in back of them where the woman had pointed and saw a gold necklace with a ruby at the end that was surrounded by diamonds. Suze didn't know what it was but it was apparently important and no doubt bad enough for the woman to not want them to see it. Suddenly, Suze ran and lunged for the necklace. **

**The woman looked livid. She worked up her power and sent a gust of force towards. Suze.**

"**Simon!" Paul yelled and he jumped in front of her and the force knocked him and sent him flying across the room until his body collided with the back wall rendering him unconscious.**

**The ghosts laughed maniacally. **

"**Oh my god, Paul" Suze whispered. **_**What did he just do? Did he just…save me?**_

**Suze finished grabbing for the necklace and held it close to her.**

"**I believe we will be having that back" the man sneered.**

"**What's it for?" Suze demanded, clutching it tightly.**

"**Not your concern," the woman snapped, "just hand it over"**

**Suze started to back up and slowly began to put her hand into a fist.**

"**I really don't wanna use violence" Suze said. **

**The woman laughed. "You Fool" she suddenly came up close in front of Suze until their faces were only inches apart and she forcefully thrust Suze sending her hurdling over a chair and slamming hard into the floor. The amulet fell from Suze's hand and landed a few feet away.**

"**Get it!" the woman yelled at her husband and the man rushed over and grabbed the necklace. Suze got up slowly, her body aching horribly. She heard a grunt near her. She looked beside her and saw Paul regaining consciousness. **

"**Paul" Suze said running towards him. Suze took Paul's upper arms and helped him up off the floor and attempted to steady him.**

"**Now hold one of them! We need the drop of blood" the woman ordered.**

**The man nodded and started in towards Suze.**

"**You know I hate to be rude but you guys are really starting to piss me off" Suze said and she ran up and whirled her fist into the man's face, making him fall down. **

"**No!" the woman screamed.**

"**Come on!" Paul said grabbing Suze's arm and they ran out of the room, into the hall and up the stairs. They got to the front door and Paul grabbed for the handle but the woman was too fast for them. She was behind them using her force and was holding the door shut.**

"**No let us go!" Suze yelled reaching to put her hand over Paul's on the knob to help him.**

"**Get up and finish the spell!" the woman yelled back downstairs to her husband.**

**Suze frowned in confusion. "What do you think they're talking about? What Spell?" she yelled at Paul.**

"**I don't know and I don't really care! Let's just get out of here!" Paul yelled back.**

**But the door wasn't budging. Suddenly the woman looked drained. Her power was decreasing. The woman took a tired gasp and the door flew open. Paul and Suze ran out the door and away from the house.**


	3. Chapter 3

They didn't stop running until they were nearly back at the school

**They didn't stop running until they were nearly back at the school. Suze thought they were done for when the woman cornered them upstairs but somehow they escaped. Her feet and body hurt from all the running and pounding it took but she still kept up a fast walk, wanting to get as far away from the house as possible.**

"**Well…that was fun" Paul said sarcastically slowing down their pace to take a breath.**

"**Ha! Yeah, real fun. We were nearly killed. We have to get back to Father Dominic and figure out exactly what that amulet is used for. And why they needed us there. It was a trap for something. They knew we were coming" Suze said but then she stopped to look at Paul who had blood on the side of his head from where he had hit the wall. For the first time Suze felt a surge of appreciation for him. She walked up to him and looked in his eyes.**

"**Why did you do that for me? Run in front of me like that to help me?"**

**Paul looked at her. His gaze was so soft at that moment that Suze thought he almost looked like a completely different person. He gently put a hand to her face.**

"**Because I-" Paul suddenly took his hand off her face and started walking again, "never mind Simon"**

"**No," Suze said running to catch up with him. She gently pulled at his arm to stop him and turned him towards her, "what were you going to say?"**

"**Because I love you" Paul stammered his usual suave and articulate self disappearing in that moment. Suze looked at him in surprise. She had never heard Paul say that before. She had always thought she was just a game to him and only liked her for the chase. Paul noticed her look and sunk him head low.**

"**I know what you must think. With all the girls I have drooling on me at school. But Suze I never felt the way I do about you with any of them. I-" but Paul couldn't finish because to his shock Suze planted her lips on his passionately. Paul put his hand on her back to pull her towards him and eagerly returned the kisses. The kiss deepened in it's passion and as their tongues met Paul let out a gasp of pleasure. Paul's hands travelled to Suze's thigh exploring every inch of her body as it slid down. Suze flung her arms around Paul's neck. But suddenly Suze pulled stopped the kiss. **

"**What is it?" Paul said still breathing hard from their moment of passion. They were still so close she could feel his breathe on her face.**

"**Nothing, it's just I-" Suze stammered looking down at the ground, confused by all the emotions she was feeling. Paul put a finger under Suze's chin to lift her head up to look at him.**

"**Suze, I didn't start this. You kissed me. I thought you wanted it" Paul said, confused.**

"**I do, I mean I did! You've changed so much Paul. I always had this in the back of my head. What would I do if you became the decent guy I saw deep down. But this is going too fast right now I just, I have to tell Jesse first before we start this okay? Something was happening between me and Jesse but now after this…" Suze said, trailing off.**

**Paul nodded in understanding. He took a strand of Suze's chestnut brown hair that had fallen in her face and tucked it behind her ear affectionately. **

"**Okay, I understand but you will tell him right?" Paul asked.**

"**I promise"**


	4. Chapter 4

This is a short one but enjoy

This is a short one but enjoy!!

**They arrived back at Father Dominic's office. The priest was there along with Jesse who looked frantic.**

"**Where have you been? I was worried" Jesse said embracing Suze in a firm yet gentle hug. Suze looked over Jesse's shoulder and saw Paul looking at her questioningly. She immediately pulled out of Jesse's grip.**

"**Well we're okay. Look at us. We're still alive. Although it was a close call" Suze said. Father Dom who was sitting at his desk put starting rubbing his head thoughtfully. "You didn't get the kids?" **

"**No we looked but in the end we were too busy fighting for our lives" Paul said snidely. **

"**And you found out no sort of details about why they wanted those kids?" The priest said, his voice raising slightly.**

"**Well, that's the thing they said they didn't want the kids. They wanted us. Mediators. This whole big thing about some unjustice that was done to them. They really wanted revenge and they meant business" Suze said, shaking at the memories of the past afternoon.**

"**Thank god your okay" Jesse said.**

"**Yeah, but also have u ever heard of an amulet made of gold that has a ruby attached to it? They were gonna use it for something. And when I tried to take it they nearly killed me for it" Suze said.**

**Father Dominic's face suddenly grew pale and grim. "Did this amulet look very old, like antique old? And did it have diamonds around the ruby?"**

**Suze and Paul glanced at each other. **

"**Yes" they both said in unison.**

**Father Dom suddenly bent over to open the bottom drawer of his desk. He pulled out a thick black book that looked to be older than he was.**

"**Your not the first mediator I've met Susannah and this book is records of past experiences and notes from previous mediators that have come before you," Father Dominic explained, Suze noticed his hands were shaking visibly, "and there is a record in here of an amulet. One that I, myself thought to be destroyed a long time ago."**

"**What does it do?" Suze asked him impatiently, the suspense killing her.**

"**It takes away the power from every mediator in the world"**


	5. Chapter 5

"What

"**What?" was all Suze could manage to choke out. When Father Dom had said those words Suze felt her heart slip up into her throat.**

"**Yes. That amulet is the source of the magic that allows you to have your gift. A simple spell and a few drops of mediator blood and it will reverse your power as well as the rest of the mediators in the world. Do you understand? This is serious. We must get that amulet!" Father Dominic yelled. **

**Suze had never seen him like this before. He as clearly panicking and since Father Dominic was the last person in the world that she had ever seen upset or scared, this only made her grow more afraid.**

"**This is good," Paul said looking inappropriately happy at the situation, "what if I don't want this power!"**

"**Well your not just talking about you" Father Dom pointed out, "your talking about all mediators. And plus think of all the good you guys do. We can't allow this to happen"**

"**Okay Fine. What do we do?" Paul said. Suze looked at him with a smile. This time last month he never wanted to help ghosts move on and thought his gift was a chore. **_**This is definitely a new Paul **_**Suze thought. She inched over to him and was about to take her hand in his when she realized she couldn't Jesse would notice.**

"**You must find that Amulet and those kids too. But you can't just go barging in there again unprepared. We will meet back here again tomorrow and discuss a plan" Father Dominic said. **

"**Your mom will be worried if you stay any longer" Jesse agreed and all three of them headed out of the office.**

**That night Suze took a shower, brushed her teeth and got on her pyjamas. She was happy to finally be able to get some sleep after the very tiring day she had. She lifted the covers to her bed and sunk in, her body screaming in agreement as her head hit her pillow. Suze was just about to turn off her lamp on her night table when a figure appeared in the room.**

"**Hello" Jesse said, smiling warmly.**

"**Hi" Suze said returning the smile but only weakly. She found it very hard to be near Jesse now after what had happened with Paul. A part of her knew that she wanted to be with Paul but the other half was feeling guilty about having to tell Jesse.**

**Jesse noticed this weak reception from Suze and he swiftly walked over and sat down at the foot of her bed.**

"**Suze, is something wrong? You're acting…distant. And today in Father Dominic's office, when I hugged you, you pulled away. Did I do something?" Jesse asked.**

"**oh no Jesse, it's not you," Suze said, "it's just I was exhausted and I still am. It was a crazy day"**

"**I understand," Jesse said getting up off the bed. The warm smile he had on when he appeared in the room now took on a look of being worried and a little bit of sadness, "I'll see you tomorrow Susannah". Jesse than shimmered from the room.**

_**Poor Jesse, how can I do this **_**Suze thought. Than she realized she couldn't deny her true feelings. She needed to be with the one who she truly wanted to be with and not go with someone out of guilt. She reached over and turned off her lamp and laid her sore body back down. **

**Her eyes slowly opened when she heard a creak. Like footsteps. She laid up in bed and took a glimpse around her dark room. No one was there. She was turning to look behind her when she heard soft laughing. Laughing that was eerily familiar to her. Her heart stopped in her chest as panic and dread overcame her. She turned all the way around and saw two figures in the dark. They came forward and she saw their faces. It was the ghosts from the crescent house.**

"**So you thought you can get away that easily huh?" the man said, his grin showing his satisfaction. His hands were behind his back casually as he slowly took some steps towards her.**

"**Look I know that what happened to you was wrong but not all mediators are bad you know" Suze said but to no avail. The ghosts weren't listening.**

**The man suddenly lifted his hands from his back to reveal a knife in his hand. It took all of Suze's willpower not to scream. She didn't want to wake and worry her mother or Andy. **

**The man suddenly and with more speed than Suze had ever seen any ghost use before close the distance between them until he was right up next to her. He took her hand and held it with overpowering strength. He nicked her hand with the knife just so a little bit of blood was at the end of it. **

"**Thank you" the man sneered and both ghosts vanished from the room. Suze felt circulation come back to her hand where he had been holding her so tightly. **

_**Damn it **_**Suze thought **_**they got the drop of blood.**_


	6. Chapter 6

Suze hurried downstairs as quietly as she could, being careful not to wake up anyone

**Suze hurried downstairs as quietly as she could, being careful not to wake up anyone. She grabbed the phone and dialled Paul's number. **

_**Please don't be asleep **_**Suze thought desperately. **

**The phone rang three times than Suze heard Paul's sleepy voice on the other end.**

"**Hello?" Paul asked.**

"**Hi Paul, it's me Suze. I've got some bad news…the ghosts came here tonight and-"**

"**Are you hurt?" Paul asked, suddenly sounding more awake.**

"**Yeah don't worry I'm fine…but…but they got the drop of blood Paul. This means they could be doing the spell and using the amulet any minute now!" Suze said, her voice becoming shrill with panic.**

"**Okay just stay calm Suze. I'll come and meet you at your house okay? I'll be there in 10 minutes" Paul said.**

"**Okay but hurry" Suze said than hung up the phone.**

**Those 10 minutes seemed like hours to Suze as she frantically tried to stop thinking about the horrible mess they were in. **

_**My calling, what I've been doing since I was little is going to be taken away **_**Suze thought. She tried to imagine a life without helping ghosts, without seeing them. But she couldn't. Her job no doubt irritated her at times. Sometimes she desperately wanted a normal life. To not have the burden and responsibility that came along with her gift. But now being faced with losing her power forever, she knew that's not what she wanted. She wanted to continue to help people.**

**Suze was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard soft knocking at the door. She hurried to the door and opened it. Paul was standing in the doorway wearing the same worried look she had on. Suze flung her arms around Paul and embraced him, happy that he was with her.**

"**What are we going to do?" she whispered.**

**Paul stroke her hair comfortingly and kissed the top of her head.**

'**We're going to stop them I swear. Get them before they use the amulet. And than we're going to kick their butts"**

**Despite the horrible feeling of fear that overwhelmed Suze she gave a little laugh.**

**Gently pulling out of their embrace, Suze looked up at Paul.**

"**Should we go to Father Dominic first?" she asked.**

"**There's no time. They are probably doing the spell right now" Paul said. Suze turned around and closed the front door softly. She didn't want her mother to know she was leaving the house at this time of the night, even though with the job she had she found herself doing it quite often.**

**They were about to turn to leave when they heard a voice.**

"**What is he doing here?" it asked.**

**They looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. **

_**That voice sounds familiar **_**Suze thought.**

"**Jesse?" she asked.**

"**Yes, who did you think it was? Can't you see me?" Jesse asked, confused.**

"**No, I can't" Suze said. **

_**Oh god **_**she thought **_**it's too late.**_


	7. Chapter 7

"What do you mean you can't see me

"What do you mean you can't see me? What happened to you?" Jesse demanded.

"It's the ghosts they got a drop of my blood and did the spell. Jesse did you…" Suze trailed off as she turned her head and looked everywhere around her, "where are you by the way?"

"Over here in front of the door" Jesse's deep, soft voice answered.

Suze turned to face the door to look in his direction. "Did you hear Father Dominic say anything about a counter spell? One that can reverse this?"

"I don't think so but I'll go check" Jesse said. Suze felt a slight breeze and the presence she felt of Jesse suddenly disappeared. Suze breathed a sigh of distress.

"We still have to go back to the house Paul," Suze said starting to walk down her pathway, "they know we don't have our powers anymore so they don't need the kids to lure us. They can hurt them now!"

"But we won't be able to see them Suze! We won't be able to fight them!" Paul said grabbing Suze's wrist to stop her.

"I don't care. We can't let anything happen to those kids. Are we in this together?" Suze asked, looking up at him. Her mind was pleading for him to make the right choice, for him to give her a sign that he really wanted to use his gift to do good.

"I…" Paul stammered, than suddenly looked at Suze with an honest determination, "alright. Let's go"

Meanwhile, Jesse had rushed to Father Dominic with only one thing on his mind. He had to hurry to check the counter curse that could save Suze so he could get back to her. His mind was racing with horrible thoughts. _She could be in danger right now. Maybe she already went back to the house _Jesse thought.

When Jesse shimmered into Father Dominic's office, the priest was startled.

"You're here!" Jesse exclaimed, relief flooding through him.

"Well….yes. but what are you doing here Jesse?" Father Dominic asked. His office was lit only by a dim lamp on his desk, where the priest was sitting. An old book lay open on his desk and a pen and paper was beside it where Jesse could see he had been scribbling and researching furiously.

"The ghosts took Suze's mediator power. They were at her house tonight and got the drop of blood. I need to know if there is something, a spell that can return her powers?" Jesse asked.

Father Dominic's face took on a look of dread.

"Oh my goodness. They didn't hurt her did they? Is she okay?"

"Yes. But knowing Suze she probably went back to the house to help those kids. Now is there a counter spell or not?" Jesse demanded his voice becoming impatient and aggressive.

"I've been reading and there is something," Father Dominic said, taking off his glasses and rubbing his forehead, "it's a chant. But I don't know how it works or how dangerous it is"

"Well she is going to be in even more danger if she is over there and is not able to see those ghosts to fight back. We have to do it" Jesse said forcefully.

"Alright, But the spell has to be said by the mediator who's blood they used. Meaning Suze" The Priest said.

"Fine, write out the spell and let's go find her"


	8. Chapter 8

Suze and Paul arrived at the house painfully aware of the pending predicament they were in

Suze and Paul arrived at the house painfully aware of the pending predicament they were in. They had to save the kids but fighting invisible ghosts (which to them was severely abnormal) that could be anywhere. That's where their concerns lied.

"Are you sure we shouldn't wait for Jesse to see if there is a way to reverse our powers being taken before we go barging in there?" Paul asked. They were at the door to the old house and they both seemed to have stopped in their tracks. They both were turning white and Suze found herself looking down to find herself shaking so violently that she had to hug herself tightly to keep her body still. They both turned their glances from each other to the door with anticipation.

"No, the kids Paul… For all we know we could be too late as it is" Suze said than with an unsteady hand she went to turn the doorknob when Paul's hand gently stopped her.

"Okay. I was just making sure. You know I'm not chickening out. If you're going in there, so am I," Paul said, his gaze soft, "but since this could be the last thing we ever do I just wanna-"

"Paul!" Suze interrupted, her jaw dropping.

"No, just let me finish," Paul said, grinning slightly, "I just wanted to do something before we go in there"

Paul than took Suze's face in his hand and brought it to his own pressing his lips against hers. The present danger they were about to face made their embrace smolder with even more passion. Suze felt a cold wind but dismissed it, kissing Paul back hungrily. But unbeknownst to them a figure stood just inches away from them, glaring with anger and hurt.

It was Jesse.

Jesse's face was turning crimson red with rage as he beheld the sight in front of him. A sight he never thought he would see. Suddenly Jesse couldn't contain himself any longer and his fist went smashing into Paul's face, making him double over in pain. Suze screamed.

"Jesse? Is that you? Stop it!" Suze ordered looking frantically around her but still unable to see him.

"What were you doing? Was he taking advantage of you? I swear every chance he gets he…" Suze heard Jesse's voice rant on as she ran over to help Paul to his feet. Paul was holding the part of his face where Jesse's fist had hit him.

"No Jesse…" Suze said guiltily, stammering for words, "he wasn't taking advantage. He's changed…and…he loves me Paul and…I love him too"

Suze's words were like a dagger in Jesse' heart.

"How could you love him? after everything he's done?" Jesse demaned, his deep voice turning so harsh that Suze barely even recognized it anymore.

"I'm so sorry Jesse. I've been agonizing all day about how and when I was going to tell you. I didn't want to hurt you…but believe me he has changed. He came here tonight, didn't he? To help? He's putting his own life at risk, isn't that saying something?" Suze said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

_How did this get so messed up? _Suze thought.

"You know what, we'll talk about this later…I came here to tell you that we found a spell that can help you get your powers back. But since you're the one who they took the blood from Suze, you're the one who has to say it. Father Dominic wrote it down on this paper," Jesse said reaching into the pocket of his old-fashioned cowboy jeans and taking out the paper than handing it to Suze.

"Thanks. I guess it can't hurt to say it before we go in there" Suze said emphatically. Suze looked down at the piece of paper and started to read. The chant was in ancient Latin so she had no idea what it meant but she managed to read it all with no problem.

Without looking back she than walked straight into the house hoping to get this over with as soon as possible. Paul followed shortly and than they heard the door close in the back of them which was Jesse. They all suddenly heard a voice.

"Come again have you? I must say your more brave that I originally thought" it sneered. Suze recognizes the voice. It was the voice of the woman ghost. But she had no idea where it was coming from.

"The spell it didn't work!" Suze yelled in terror. She whirled around and focused her eyes everywhere around the room. She couldn't spot Jesse.

Suze quickly picked up the phone and dialled Father Dominic's office number.

It rang twice before the other end picked up.

"Hello?" Father Dominic asked.

"Oh thank god you haven't left yet!"

"No I was just leaving now. Are you okay? You got the spell I found right?"

"Yeah but it didn't work! I still can't see them!" Suze said, her voice cracked with panic. Suze was looking around the living room they were standing in. The ghosts could be anywhere.

"What? Hold on I've got the book I found it in right here, just give me one second and I'll find out what was wrong"

Suddenly Suze was distracted by hard footsteps beside her. She turned to look beside her and she saw an old head statue that was placed on one of the old coffee tables that was filled with dust suddenly spring in to the air. She screamed as the statue harshly collided with her head. Suze than fell to the ground.

Father Dominic had finished his reassuring her that he had his book right next to him. He was than flipping the pages furiously when he had heard the scream. He than heard a loud thudding sound and everything seemed to get dizzy and spin as his heart starting pumping faster and faster.

"Suze? SUZE?ANSWER ME!"

But there was no reply.

He slammed down the phone and continued to find the reversal spell to see what he had overlooked. He realized with painful clarity that this was Suze's only hope now.

_Just please let me get there on time _the priest thought with despair.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Suze fought her consciousness from leaving her but the blackness that was beginning to absorb her was overwhelming. She heard voices calling her but as hard as she tried she couldn't seem to open her mouth to answer them.

"Oh god, she's bleeding" she heard Paul say who was now cradling her head in his lap.

"Where is Father Dominic?!" Jesse yelled but to no use. He knew none of them could hear him. Suze managed to open her eyes slightly to see the panic expression on Paul's face and she imagined Jesse's looked the same way if she could see him.

"Paul…" she managed to whisper.

Paul looked down at her almost in shock and of relief.

"Suze! Thank god," Paul said, "hey Jesse I know you can hear me. Look. It looks like she's going to be okay"

Just then she heard a car pull up outside. Suze's heart that had been hammering in her chest suddenly calmed. Father Dominic was here. She heard the ignition of the car turn off and hard footsteps hurrying up the stairs. Suddenly the door burst open and Father Dominic came running to her side.

"Oh god, Suze…this is all my fault…if I hadn't been so stupid to overlook…" he trailed off and his eyes became agonized.

"It's not your fault, " Suze whispered, looking up at him reassuring but she found it hard to maintain it when her head was throbbing from where the statue hit her, "but did u find out what went wrong?"

"You had to have the amulet," Father Dominic explained, "that's what I forgot. You had to have it on you when you said the spell. I know…so simple and I missed it. I am the worst mentor! the worst…"

Suze took her hand and put it on Father Dominic's.

"No, no it's okay. I just need to get the amulet" Suze said and she started to sit up when immediately Father Dominic and Paul's hands grabbed her and set her back down. She also felt another set of hands that were almost like a cool breeze on her skin, which must have been Jesse's.

"Jesse? Are you here? If you can hear me, move something" Father Dominic instructed. Just then one of the white blankets that was covering one of the dusty old chairs they were near moved off it and hit forcefully to the ground.

"Good," Father Dominic said, "maybe you should go get the amulet Jesse. You can shimmer there the fastest" suddenly they all felt a chill and the temperature around them changed. They knew he had followed the instructions.

"Hopefully he'll be quick. Be careful Father Dom, those two pain in the ass ghosts could be floating anywhere" Paul said testily.

"He'll be back soon" Father Dominic said but then looked uneasily over his shoulder.

Suddenly they heard a big crash from downstairs. All three looked at each other in horror.

"Oh no they saw what he was doing!" Suze said still groggy.

"Susannah, you stay here we're going to go help Jesse and get that amulet. If you feel one of them coming back, scream!" Father Dominic instructed and he and Paul few out of the room. And down the stairs to the basement.

When Paul and Father Dominic ran into the room where they heard the noises they gasped. Two chairs were toppled over and there was a vicious crack in the side wall where there no doubt was a struggle.

"Jesse? Where are you?" Father Dominic yelled frantically. Just then one of the toppled chairs raised from the ground and flew in their direction.

"Watch out!" Paul screamed and they each jumped to the opposite side out of the way. They both landed on the ground with a harsh thud.

"I have never witnessed anything like this! These must be the angriest ghosts I have ever encountered. What happened to them?" Father Dominic asked getting to his feet.

"Something about their how their son got accidentally exorcised or something" Paul said walking over to Father Dominic. Paul knew he shouldn't have brought that up because when he said that there were loud cracks from all ends of the room and the light bulbs from the 5 lit lamps all around them cracked and shattered at the same time. Then they were rendered in darkness.

"Oh crap" Paul said.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Do you hear that?" Paul asked in the darkness.

They heard swishing sounds all around them like air moving faster than normal. Paul and Father Dominic could feel the chill in the air and the ghost's anger that was growing more intense with every word that they spoke.

"Yeah…just be careful when you talk about that incident. Ghosts tend to get more powerful with the more rage they feel" Father Dominic warned.

Just then the 5 lamps with the broken light bulbs floated off the tables and went hurling across the room in front of them, crashing in to each other. This sent Paul and the Priest jumping almost 2 feet back.

"You're not joking" Paul said sarcastically.

Father Dominic gave Paul a look and than spoke to the invisible forms that were in front of them.

"Look, I know you have been hurt. But you must believe that your son went to a better place. My name is Father Dominic and I'm a mediator too. So I know how to help you" he said. But at the moment he mentioned his name he felt two invisible hands grip his neck and pin him up against the wall.

"Father Dom!" Paul yelled and began to run over but something swift tripped him and knocked him to the ground and at once he too felt himself pinned.

'What are you doing?" Father Dom managed to choke out in ragged breaths. The fingers that were wrapped around his neck were growing tighter with deadly intent.

Suddenly a book lifted out of a dusty old bookcase on the other side of the room and moved closer to them. It dropped on the floor and the pages turned furiously until it got to one with a picture stuck in it. It lifted out and drifted into the air. Once it came into the Priest's sight, he gasped. Horror masked his face as he recognized the couple and more importantly, the child in the photograph.

Meanwhile upstairs Suze's head had stopped throbbing. Suze sat up and looked around the room. She felt a twinge of uneasiness. It had been a long time since they had left to go get the amulet. Suze vaguely remembered a crash when they were down there but she was so out of it she wasn't even sure she had heard it. Suze slowly got up and started for the stairs. Suddenly she heard a blood-curdling scream. It was Father Dominic.

Her eyes widened in fear. Than with all the braveness she could muster she ran down the stairs.

When she got there she saw Father Dominic's body propelled 5 feet in the air, being held by something and she knew it was one of the ghosts. Paul was on the floor his hands clutched in mid-air something slightly above his neck. Someone was choking him.

Suze ran to him and tugged at the place where there was no doubt hands that Paul was desperately trying to get off. She pulled but to no use. She couldn't get it off him. Suze looked around the room, desperate for anything to use as a weapon. Suddenly she saw a wooden chair that was by the bookshelf. In one fast and desperate movement she ran to the chair, picked it up and ran back to Paul. With all the force she had she hit the air above Paul and than instantly saw color come back to Paul's face which had been turning blue. She helped him up and they both looked up at Father Dominic who they could tell was being strangled more viciously than Paul was.

"What are we going to do?" Suze cried out helplessly.

Paul just shook his head. Suze noticed he looked more hopeless than she felt.

_How are we going to get out of this? _Suze thought.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Suze had never felt so desperate in her life. Looking up at Father Dominic suspended in the air by invisible hands and grasping for air made her heart quicken in her chest.

_I have to find a way to help him_ Suze thought.

She looked at Paul who looked as just in deep in thought as she was. Suddenly their attention was snapped back to the present when they heard Father Dominic inhale a loud breath of air and fall down on to the floor. They both ran to him.

"Are you okay?" Paul asked. Father Dominic's face was still blue and his breaths were coming out in heavy panting,

"What happened? Do you think they're gone?" Suze asked, anxiously looking around her.

A crash to the side of the room made them all snap their heads to see what was going on. Before their eyes, they saw one of the little tables that the lamp with the shattered bulb was on split in two on impact as it hurdled down hard on to the floor. Than they heard a loud crack against the wall behind it. Suze panicked as she saw a dent in the wall that looked to be an outline of someone's head.

"There's a struggle going on" Father Dominic said, his breathing slowly returning to normal. He was now starting to sit up beside Suze and Paul.

"No kidding" Paul said.

"It's Jesse. He's trying to help us. He saved you" Suze said quietly looking at Father Dominic.

They were all looking at the harsh crack in the wall when they heard something from the back of the room. The bookcase that stood 7 feet high suddenly lurched forward and smashed onto the ground, making the ground shake beneath them. Than there was silence. No more smashing, hitting or dents in the wall. Just silence. They all looked at each other in horror.

"Jesse! If you're alright please do something!" Suze pleaded hysterically.

Paul looked at her wearily. They were in a life or death situation, so Paul berated himself for feeling even the slightest bit hurt or jealous by Suze's pleading for Jesse, but he couldn't help it.

"Suze, Jesse's already dead remember? He's going to be alright" Paul said somewhat icily.

"I know! But we could be hurt Paul! What's wrong with you? JESSE DO SOMETHING!" Suze called again but there was no movement around them. Just rubble from the broken pieces of smashed furniture and Suze's continuous pained cries.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Oh my god Jesse…" was what Suze kept mumbling under her breath. She knew Paul could hear her but she didn't care. She also knew he was irritated watching her agonize over Jesse but he would just have to understand. She couldn't just turn her back on Jesse just because she chose Paul and realized now more than ever that she still wanted Jesse in her life.

"The only way to know if he's okay is to get that amulet and say the spell! Than we'll be able to see him!" Father Dominic whispered to Suze and Paul, not wanting the ghosts to know their next move.

"Your right" Suze said. They all glanced around and saw the amulet laying unprotected on the grond.

_They must have forgot about it while they were fighting Jesse 2 against 1 _Suze thought bitterly.

"I'm going for it," Paul said, "Suze you still got the paper with the spell on it in your pocket right? Well have it ready" Than Paul sprang up off the ground and dove towards the amulet. He grabbed it and turned to head back when he felt something knee him in the gut. He screamed in pain.

"Here Suze, Catch it!" Paul said and threw the amulet at her. Suze reached up and caught it than unfolded the paper with the spell on it. She could hardly make out the words on the paper her hands were shaking with panic. She said the spell still reading the latin language, still not quite comprehending the meaning. The words all came out in a panic blur than suddenly a shockwave of light came out of the amulet. The light was so intense Suze felt like the sun had dropped and was in the very same room as them. She blinked around trying to Paul or Father Dominic but she was blinded. Suddenly the light snapped away and they were in the dark room again. Except Suze saw there was not only 2 other figures around her but 5. That of Paul and Father Dom but also of the 2 ghosts and Jesse. Suze breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Jesse standing near the doorway unhurt.

"Jesse! Thank god!" Suze yelled.

Jesse blinked at her in surprise at her reaction to see him okay but than beamed a smile that Suze hadn't seen present on his face for a long time.

"No! they can see us again!" the woman ghost roared and the whole room seemed to shake with her fury.

"Susannah, break the amulet so they won't be able to use it again! DO IT NOW!" Father Dom yelled.

The next thing suze saw was the forms of the 2 ghosts turned to almost wind as they raced to stop her. But Suze was too fast for them and she violently slammed the amulet on to the ground and it broke into several pieces.  
The faces of the 2 ghosts turned red with rage. The man's hands clenched into fists and than suddenly the room started to rumble and shake. The rest of the little tables and broken lamps around the room started to wobble and fall to the floor. Paul was getting to his feet when he felt something hard hit his head and than he fell to the ground. Jesse looked down at Paul's body but suddenly he had a plan. Jesse shimmered to Paul's body picked him up, making sure not to be seen by Suze who was struggling to get to her feet by holding on to Father Dom. He than shimmered outside of the house with Paul's body in his arms and laid Paul down in safety on the grass. Jesse hurried back to his original position near the door and he saw Suze and Father Dom still so absorbed with the quake that he knew they didn't notice he had been gone. He than rushed to Suze's side.

"Suze, come on I'll get you out of here" Jesse said grabbing her hand.

"But what about Paul? Where did he go?" Suze said spinning around to look behind her but there was nobody.

"Suze…he ran out," Jesse lied. He hated having to lie to Suze. It almost felt like it would kill him to do it but if it was the only way to stop her from making a mistake she'll regret with Paul he knew he had to.

"What?" Suze demanded as Jesse was starting to pull her along out of the tumbling room. Father Dominic followed close behind.

"I don't know Suze…he got scared I guess. He's a coward. If he really cared about you, how could he leave you like that?"

Suze's heart fell and she felt tears beginning to form in her eyes.

_So much for him changing _Suze said and she let herself be guided to safety.


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks to all the people who have reviewed

Thanks to all the people who have reviewed! I really appreciate it!

Chapter 13

Suze had the feeling before it had been confirmed. And even when Jesse had told her she had not wanted to believe it. Paul had deceived her. Made her believe he had changed, that he had grown up and became the kind of guy that she could actually be with. As Suze laid in bed after what seemed like the longest day of her life, these thoughts along with a million others were racing through her head. She was quickly pulled out of her daydreams when Jesse materialized into the room.

"Hi" he said quietly. Suze noticed Jesse had not been the same around her since he dragged her out of the ghost's house. He wouldn't look her in the eye and hung his head whenever he was around her. Something inside told her that something wasn't right.

"Hi," Suze replied, "long day, huh?"

Jesse walked over to the end of her bed, sat down but said nothing. After a few minutes of silence, Suze couldn't take it anymore.

"Jesse, are you alright? It seems like something is bothering you" Suze asked sitting up.

"I'm fine, I just…can't get over everything that happened today. Everything could have been lost" Jesse said, still not looking at her but at the ground.

"Yeah well, I still did pretty much lose a lot, don't you think? Paul running out and leaving me behind like that…I hate myself for ever trusting him" Suze spat.

Jesse flinched but kept his expression neutral. As much as Jesse thought in the moment that he was doing Suze a favour, the burden of his secret was killing him more than he could stand. He had never wanted to hurt her, but he realized unintentionally or not, he had more than he could ever have predicted.

"I-I- have to go" Jesse stammered and than as quickly as he came, he was gone.

Paul woke up and felt the wet grass the laid underneath him like a blanket. He sat up and looked around him in wonder. The last memory he had was something knocking him unconscious, than blacking out. He remembered he was just about to run to help Suze.

_Oh god Suze! _Paul thought in panic, _please be okay!_

He reached into his pocket and breathed a sigh of relief when he found his cell phone. He quickly dialled Suze's number and waited anxiously.

"Hello?" Suze's voice came on the other end.

"Oh thank god, Suze! You're okay! I just woke up here I-"

"Oh save it Paul," Suze interrupted, "I won't believe anymore of your stories okay? I gave you a chance and I thought you had changed. But I was wrong. How could you just leave me like that, huh Paul? Run off like such a coward?"

Paul listening to all of Suze's harsh words was speechless, not knowing what to make of any of it.

"But I didn't! Suze, I would never!" Paul pleaded.

"Goodbye Paul" Suze said and than the line went dead.

_What the hell was that? _Paul thought _and how did I end up here conveniently and no one knew where I was? _Paul got up off the grass and started to head home with these burning questions in his head, that he was determined to answer one way or another.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Thanks to jayd-n33, I want to be Jesse's girl and uniqueillusion for reviewing. You guys rock.

Suze made her way to school later that morning still agitated from her phone call from Paul. A part of him had sounded sincere when he said he did not know what had happened. But than again, she knew Paul was a good liar. He had always been and to base her decision to forgive him on that, she decided would be crazy.

She had a couple of minutes before her class started and she didn't want to run into Paul, not yet. So she decided to go and see Father Dominic. Suze walked to his office, knocked on his door and let herself in. As she expected, he was sitting at his deck, absorbed in a book.

"Susannah," Father Dom greeted her, quickly putting the book he had been reading facedown on his desk, "and how are you doing? I dare say, yesterday was quite eventful"

Suze smirked. "You can say that again," she said as she sat down at the empty chair on the other side of his desk, "I'm just disappointed in myself mostly"

Father Dom nodded, knowing what she was talking about.

"We all believed Paul had changed. You must not blame yourself Susannah"

"I know. But now Jesse won't even talk to me anymore. I think I hurt him too much. I don't know if it will ever be the same between us anymore"

Suddenly Suze threw her head into her hands and started to cry softly. Her body shook with every sob she let out. Father Dom stood at her in astonishment, unsure of how to comfort her. Slowly he lent forward and reached across the desk to pat Suze lightly on the shoulder. Suze looked up, embarrassed.

"Oh I'm sorry. I shouldn't let all this out on you" she said sheepishly.

"Don't be silly, Susannah. I'm here for you for whatever you need." Father Dom said. Suze gave a grateful smile. "Thanks. Well I should get to class. I'll see you later okay?" With that Suze let herself out of his office. Father Dominc took a deep breath and sighed. The book he had quickly put down when Suze had come in was not something he could ever have shown her. He picked it up with trembling hands and glanced again at the page he had been reading. It was dated _1977, _it was one of the cases he took on when he was mediating back in his young days. Below the date was a picture. The same picture the ghosts had shown him at the house. He was sure he had given himself away and Paul would catch on when they had shown him the picture and look on his face was that of sheer terror. But luckily Paul was too busy fighting for his life for it to sink in. He slowly closed up the book and sighed. He knew the ghosts had unfinished business. It was just a matter of time until they found him.

After school Suze walked to her locker to back up her bag. When she was done she closed it and turned around to find Paul standing behind her. Suze looked at him and noticed how awful he looked. He had grass stains on his jeans and he looked like he had not slept well since there were circles underneath his eyes.

"Suze, I know you're mad but I really need to talk to you" Suze thought for a second.

"What do you want?" Suze asked.

Paul took one of her hands in his. She exhaled tensely but didn't pull away.

"What you think I did. I promise you it isn't true. Something hard hit me and I was knocked out. And I don't remember anything after that."

Suze snorted. "Paul if you were knocked out, how did you leave that room? Look…I want to believe you but it doesn't make any sense"

Paul dropped Suze's hand, frustrated. "I don't know," suddenly he trailed off, "Jesse…"

Suze's mouth dropped. "No! You can't honestly think…"

"No," Paul interrupted pointing behind Suze, "its Jesse"

Suze twirled around and Jesse was standing there, glaring at Paul.

"Jesse, what are you doing here?" Suze asked, surprised. She was being careful only to make brief eye contact seeing as all the kids around her were probably unaccustomed to seeing someone speaking to air.

"I came to apologize for being so abrupt last night and to see how you were doing. But I see you two are doing quite fine" he said looking from Suze to Paul pointedly.

"No, this isn't what it looks like, Jesse!" Suze said frantically but was interrupted by Sister Ernestine, one of the head authority's of her prestigious catholic school.

"Susannah Simon. Why are you raising your voice like that? Come here this instant"

Suze reluctantly walked over to her, leaving Jesse and Paul by themselves.

Jesse looked Paul up and down.

"Geez, Slater, you don't look so good"

"Shut up. If only you knew what I've been through last night" Paul said. When Paul said that, Jesse glanced nervously to his side, noticeably breaking his eye contact with Paul. A sudden realization hit Paul.

"Well, well, well," Paul mused, "I should have known. It was you, wasn't it? I mean who else would have done it? The ghosts? They would have just killed me instead of saving me. And who did this really work out for?" Paul said nodding toward Suze, "you. You can have Suze now. And what she thinks of me now is nothing more than a filthy liar. Well congratulations Jesse, but just wait until I tell her the truth. She may not believe me at first but don't worry, I'll make sure she does sooner or later"

Jesse who had been listening to his rant with a cold expression only uttered 2 words.

"Tell her"

Paul stared at Jesse in disbelief. "What?" he demanded.

"I said tell her. It's been like torture keeping this from her. Yes I want Suze…but I want her to be happy. I care about her and what did I do? I tricked her. I stooped to your level, Slater, and I realize I made a mistake. And Suze will see how bad I feel. And I guarantee you she will choose me in the end. But until than I'm keeping my eye on you. I don't trust you and I don't believe you when you say you've changed into this new Paul. I know your gonna hurt her and I'm not letting that happen" Jesse said.

Paul glared at Jesse with ice in his eyes. Suddenly in a blind rage, not caring who was looking, he grabbed Jesse by the collar of his shirt and threw him hard into the locker behind him. Suddenly Suze was running back to them.

"Paul! What are you doing? Stop!"

Paul glanced from Suze to Jesse, shook his head than stormed off down the hall. Suze stared after Paul in shock.

"What got into him?" she demanded.

But she didn't get an answer because in that instant without a word Jesse shimmered away.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**I think my reviewers who are mostly Jesse/Suze lovers will find this chapter to your liking. Haha! Enjoy!**

"What an idiot!" Suze exclaimed pacing around her room with severe irritation, "if he thought slamming you into a locker was going to get me back, well I have some pretty lousy news for him…" Suze stopped pacing when she saw Jesse's face, who was sitting on the windowsill gazing out the window at the night sky.

"It's okay Susannah. I'm fine. And it's not like he planned it, it just happened" Jesse said sternly. Suze was confused.

"Since when did you start defending Paul?" she asked curiously.

Jesse looked at her. "Never mind, Susannah. But what about these ghosts. What are you going to do about them?"

Suze frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well don't you think from when they almost killed you that these ghosts might be dangerous? I think you need to send them away" Jesse said.

"Well look…I just saw the news tonight. They let the kids go. And unless they harm someone else I can't do that Jesse. Or at least Father Dominic would never agree to it" Suze said. Jesse sighed.

"Your right," Jesse said, "it's just when…I think of how they might have hurt you…" he trailed off. Suze couldn't believe her ears. She thought his recent distant attitude was anger from her hurting him. But now hearing those words come out of Jesse's mouth, she knew he still cared about her.

"Jesse, I…" Suze whispered.

Suddenly Jesse got up off the windowsill and started to walk towards her. He put a hand to her face.

"Yes, Queirda?" Jesse said. Suze looked into his eyes in wonder. He had not called her that since before she started seeing Paul. And she realized now more than ever that she missed it, missed it so much that hearing him say it made her core ache.

Suddenly the spell they were under lifted when the phone rang. Suze jumped than sighed as she reluctantly left Jesse's side to answer it.

"Hello?" Suze said.

"Ummm…Suze…I know it's late but something about our present ghost case has come up. Can you meet me in front of the school?" Father Dominic said. His voice seemed hesitant to Suze…different.

"Ummm…yeah sure, okay I'll try and sneak out" Suze said, already knowing it wouldn't be a problem. She hung up the phone.

"What did Father Dominic want?" Jesse asked.

"To meet him in front of the school. There is something he has to tell us about the ghosts. Meet me outside, I'm gonna go by my window" Suze said, quickly throwing on a sweater and her sneakers. Jesse nodded than shimmered.

Suze quietly climbed down from her window and quite easily. Because of the gift she had, she found she had to do this quite often.

Once on the ground she was Jesse and they made their way to the school. They entered the long field in front and spotted Father Dominic standing near the entrance, looking very anxious.

"Father Dom," Suze said walking up to him, "what's going on?"

"Oh god, what did I do…" Father Dominic muttered solemnly. Suze and Jesse looked at each other, confused.

"What are you talking about?" Jesse frowned.

Suddenly 2 figures appeared…the ghosts.

"Ah, they fall for our trap every time" the woman chuckled.

The man smiled.

"What do you want?" Suze said angrily, glaring at them.

"Revenge…but of course you know that. Why don't you have the Priest fill you in on the rest" the woman said harshly.

Suze raised her eyebrows.

"Father Dom…what does she mean?"

Father Dom gulped noticeably and took a deep breath.

"It's my fault…what happened to their son…it's all my fault" he stammered.

Jesse shook his head. "No, that can't be"

"Yes it is!" Father Dom snapped, "It was a long time ago. I thought I was doing him a favour. The poor little guy…he said he was scared…and didn't know what was going on. Yes, I helped him move on but I thought he wanted to. I thought it would help him be less afraid". Father Dom's shoulder's sagged and he held his head in his hands.

"Lies!" the man screamed, "he wouldn't be afraid! Why should he be? We were there with him!"

"He didn't understand and accept what had happened to him. Being with you couldn't stop him from feeling that way" Suze explained, trying to soften her tone to maybe make these ghosts see reason.

"He wanted to stay here, I know it! And you're going to pay, do you understand? All you mediators, will die!" the woman screeched. Suze shuddered.

Than suddenly in a flash all appearing one by one stood an army of ghosts. Suze looked around her and could swear there were almost 30 of them surrounding her, Jesse and Father Dom.

"You see all these ghosts?" the man asked and pointed around him, "they have a rather strong dislike for your type as well. We know the truth. That you do more harm than good. So this is going to end now"

Suze's blood went cold. She than turned to Jesse.

"You know you should be really happy you can't die twice!"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Thanks to the people who have reviewed up until now! I appreciate it! **

"Okay, let's not be hasty about this" Suze said slowly starting to back-up as all of the murderous ghosts that surrounded them were closing in. Jesse gave all of them cold, icy glares.

"Susannah, stay behind me" he said, stepping in front of her protectively. Suze smirked up at him. This was so typical Jesse, doing whatever he could to protect her. In spite of their present doom, Suze's heart did a flip for joy and butterflies filled her stomach.

"I appreciate this Jesse," Suze whispered, "but do you really think you can take them all? I mean, I'm sorry…but have you hit your head on something while I was not looking?"

She could see a grin spread across Jesse's lips.

"I've got to try. I'm not about to let them hurt you, Queirda"

"Neither will I" a voice said from behind them.

All eyes turned to the form that had spoken. The look on his face looked grave but determined.

"Paul…what are you doing here?" Suze demanded.

"They had me call him too" Father Dominic replied solemnly.

Paul took a few steps forward, joining the crowd. It was late out and almost pitch black. It it wasn't for the little head lights above the school entrance they were standing near, Suze doubted she would have even been able to make out which ones from the group were Jesse, Paul and Father Dom.

"Well, just go home Paul," Suze replied, "you've proven you don't care about what happens to me by oh I don't know…abandoning me when I really needed you! So showing up here Paul, is pointless"

She saw from the look on Paul's face at that moment, that something inside of him snapped. He was frustrated, no worse, angry.

"Is that so? Well maybe that's because you haven't heard the whole story Suze" Paul said, his gaze dangerously flickering over to Jesse's.

The ghosts halted their progression on all three of them, looking sternly at all three of them.

"What are you talking about? Can this wait Paul, don't you see all of these psycho ghosts, no offence," Suze said to them, "that are going to kill us!"

"No, this can't wait! He's the one who took me away from I was unconscious," Paul said, pointing a finger at Jesse, "he's the one who made it seem like I ran out on you!"

Suze just laughed. "Yeah right, Paul. Jesse would never do that"

She looked up at Jesse than and saw his eyes mold into a look of sorrow and regret. Suze was astonished, not knowing what to think.

"Jesse…is this true?" she asked weakly.

Jesse looked down at her with an agonized expression, but was unable to hold back the truth from her.

"It is" he said.

"Ha! You see! He even admits it. Now do you believe me?" Paul said triumphant, looking smugly at Jesse. Jesse shot him a deathly glare than turned back to Suze.

"I am so sorry. It has been torturing me what I did, Susannah. But I can't keep a secret from you. You know I could have easily denied it but I didn't. I can't be anything but truthful with you, Susannah. And I hope you can forgive me."

Suze looked into his eyes. She knew his apology was sincere. She felt his heartbreak and guilt as he spoke and it went straight to her heart.

"Susannah, will you forgive me?" Jesse said, making a final plea. But she didn't get to finish, since the ghosts, having had enough of their discussion, lunged at them.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

**Sorry it took me forever to update! Life's been busy! Well here is the next chapter and I hope you like it. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. I appreciate it and continue to do it! :)**

The next thing Suze felt was her head colliding with the cold pavement. Than over 20 bodies flew on top of her, making her gasp for breath. She looked to her side and she saw Jesse and Paul in the same position, on the ground with seething, murderous ghosts on top of them. They were all shoving at whatever they could to get free of their grasps. Suddenly Suze got even more panicked. Where was Father Dominic?

Through the mounds of bodies that were surrounding her she could see Father Dominic…and the man and woman ghosts closing in on him.

"No! Father Dominic!" Suze yelled and terror and despair crushed her even worse that what the ghosts on top of her were doing. They were going to stop at nothing until they got revenge on him, meaning, when they killed him.

Suze frantically wormed and convulsed to get free but there was too many of them. She was too badly outnumbered.

So Suze tried the only thing she could.

"They lied to you! What they said about mediators, it's all lies!"

Suddenly they all stopped and looked down at her. Even the ghosts that were on top of Jesse and Paul stopped and turned towards her.

"Nice try! It's not going to save you though" an angry looking, dark-eyed ghost said, glaring.

"No I swear! What happened to their son was an accident! I know you feel like you have been robbed of your life but it's better to cross over! Trust me! It may not seem fair but it's what's best for you" Suze pleaded. She paused a minute and waited for her words to sink in. Some of them regarded her with thoughtful glances, others looked more sceptical.

The husband and wife ghosts that had been cornering Father Dom stopped in their tracks.

"What are you waiting for? Kill them!" the woman screeched.

A ghost of an older-looking man glanced back at them.

"She says you lied. That mediators help us. Is this true?"

The woman looked livid. "No! Don't listen to her. She is a stuck-up girl who thinks she can mess with our lives! And so does he!" she pointed at Father Dominic. Suze's blood boiled as anger filled her.

_It's bad enough when ghosts insult me for trying to help them but they are never getting away with insulting Father Dominic! _Suze thought.

"You're wrong! Father Dom has taught almost everything I know about my gift. And despite the fact that I can be a real pain in the butt," she grinned at Father Dom and he smirked in spite of himself, "he has always been there for me. You're wrong about him"

She could see Father Dom's eyes begin to water with emotion. The 2 ghosts standing near him, didn't look so impressed.

"Oh yeah prove it!" they said together.

"Fine," Suze said scrambling to her feet determinedly, "I will. We're going to summon your son"


End file.
